Why are you here to incarnate

"You must stop conceptualizing your Eternal Being as consecutive grade levels of experience"

QUESTION: One of the things I've been wondering about is: I'm-here on earth . . .

RAJ: Earth is here in You.

QUESTION: . . . and we talk about health and how to improve it. I think the question is, does it matter at all how long we stay on earth in this body; and if it does, what is to be gained by that? When we leave here, or when we drop this body, or whatever, then we go on to another "school" or another experience, and I would like to know why it matters, or if it does, how long we stay here? Or is it, what we do here?

RAJ: You must stop conceptualizing your Eternal Being as consecutive grade levels of experience. This is a product of the three-dimensional sense of things, which causes life to be stretched out on a time-line, and one is either moving forward or backward, progressing or not.

There are only two apparent states of being, and they are either being Awake or being asleep; and in actuality, being asleep is nothing more than a very limited sense of being Awake and doesn't actually constitute a "separate" state of being.

It is the present necessity for the illusionary line separating these two apparent states to be dissolved so that there is no longer a finite three-dimensional-only conscious experience of Being.

By the very nature of the state of "sleep," it impossible for those in the waking state to communicate with those in the sleeping state. And so, the necessity is to be willing to move into the "sleeping state," the three-dimensional-only frame of reference, by virtue of what is experienced as the birth process, and subsequently, while in this finite sense of things, to rouse oneself out of it and wake up! In the process, you are functioning at a level where those who are also asleep can communicate with you, and you with them. And, in the process of being able to communicate with them, remind them also that this was their intent in "being born," and binding themselves temporarily to a finite sense of things.

It is those who are asleep that must be awakened. But, the Awakening can only be initiated from within the finite sense of things, because fundamentally it is only to those who are in that finite sense that the sleeping ones will listen.

Contrary to the popular concepts of reincarnation, what I have described is the only reason for incarnating, no matter how many times one may choose to attempt to contribute to this process of Awakening.

QUESTION: Do you mean, then, to say that the only reason we come back here is to awaken so we can help other people to awaken?

RAJ: Exactly.

QUESTION: That goes for everyone "down here"?

RAJ: Every single one.

QUESTION: We are all messiahs?

RAJ: Exactly. And that brings you back to your educational "dream" wherein it became apparent that you must be the thing. You must be the Messiah; you must be the Christ, because that is what You Are. There literally isn't anything else for you to be that means anything, even though it seems important to be successful in the business world, or it seems important to be wealthy, or it seems important to be the best darn wife and mother. There is nothing meaningful for you to be, other than the Christ, the perfect expression of the Life-Principle that You Are.

You can appropriately add a fifth card to that dream right now that has the word "Christ" or "Messiah" on it. It doesn't mean a thing to watch for Him or study what He has done in the Bible as a history lesson. It only matters to what degree YOU are willing to own what You Are CONSCIOUSLY and BE IT!

QUESTION: I have difficulty understanding. We come here for the purpose of awakening, so that we can help others to awaken. It sounds terribly naive, but I wonder why everybody just doesn't stay wherever they are, and in a matter of 80 or l00 years everyone would be "over there"?

RAJ: Because the nature of the three dimensional experience, minus the Fourth dimensional perspective, is, in itself, quite "capturing," because it engrosses the five physical senses with grossly stimulating sensory data which preoccupies the attention.

Passing on does not automatically release one from the belief systems, which arise out of a lifetime of sensory experience. And therefore, one is not immediately returned to the full open conscious experience of Being, and a process of Awakening continues until total Awakening has been achieved -- and I mean by this, that the process of Awakening continues after what you call death.

The return to physical form, as you recognize it can be achieved prior to total Awakening. And therefore, there is, or has been, a portion of the Brotherhood of Man, the Sons of God, who have been caught in this pattern of moving into the finite, three dimensional conscious experience of being over and over without gaining release from it.

It is the breaking of this pattern which has been the goal, and which is in the process of being broken at the present time.

~early conversations

Aging what it is and what it is not

RAJ: Welcome. Who has a question or a comment?

QUESTION: I would like you to talk to me about aging. Because I have the fact that there are a lot of things about aging that are assumed as illnesses, and that possibly just really are illegitimate too. I don't know if I'm making any sense. I just would like to know what to expect and how I should think about it.

RAJ: Well, first of all it's helpful to understand what the source of the concept of aging is. The source of the idea of aging is the idea that you were born, that you had a beginning a certain number of years ago in what you call this life experience. Growing, coming to full potential, reaching a peak and then beginning to age are all the result of the idea that you began at birth or at conception. That your existence is a manifestation of a physical event called birth and a physical body-that is, your identity, you see.

To overcome aging, or to become free of the so-called effects of aging-which ultimately means to become free of death-is to become free of the belief in birth, the belief that you had a beginning, and the belief that your body had a beginning apart from the reality of God's Creation in this thing that is called a physical Universe, you see, as though your body is temporary for your enjoyment and suffering in this lifetime on this Earth.

Now I've talked at some length about all of these things before, but it's absolutely essential for you to understand-all of you-that the idea of birth is a false interpretation of what I will call a point in your eternal existing. You were fully identified-meaning having that which identified you, a body-before you were born. From the moment God conceived of you, you have always had that which identifies you, which you call a body. Which means you have always been identified and you have always existed. And there is no alternative to that for you, for any of you.

You and that which identifies you are really one, they're really inseparable. You and that which identifies you are therefore at this instant eternal, whether you see it-yourself and your body-as growing, aging, potentially dying.

Again, it must be very clear and you must dare to let it be very clear in your mind that the ultimate of the reality of you is going on at this moment relative to you as you currently perceive yourself. It is not something to be achieved in the future. It's something to be allowed into your conscious awareness now, or at any moment that you decide to let it in. The ultimate of God is what is sitting right there.

Why do you see the effects of age? First of all because you think there was a beginning. And in the frame of reference you are in, which is a frame of reference of opposites, beginning means ending. They seem to be inseparable like heads and tails, top and bottom. It isn't true. It isn't what God is being right there, right now.

Now, you get a lot of feedback from your world-friends, parents-who seem to be inevitably going through an aging process, which really means a process of deterioration. You watch the commercials on the TV. And you watch the programs where your physicians are doing the best they can to explain this process of deterioration and try to ameliorate it through manipulation of one sort or another. And so you become further convinced that the most you can expect is to grow old gracefully-die gracefully. But die you must, because everyone has, except one or two or three or four. And of course, rather than that being the rule you think that's the exception and it doesn't apply to you.

Why do you think I share with you the things I share with you-all of you? So that you might be inspired out of these mindsets that you treat as though they are facts, as though they are absolutes. To inspire you to look in the mirror and not wonder "what can I expect as I age," but rather, "what more of the presence of what God is being right now, right here is available to me to see? What more of the presence of God can I see in the reflection in the mirror? What more of the undeniable perfection of my being is available for me to experience?" You see?

Tell me, how many of you do look in the mirror to see if there's a new gray hair, or a new fine line? And how many of you wish for a few fine lines or more so that you might get a little respect?

If I told you what to expect in terms of aging, then you would be wise to get up and leave and never come back to hear another word I would have to say.

When you look in the mirror, instead of being curious about how much older you're getting, I encourage you to say: "I forgive myself for not seeing the ultimate of what God is being right here in what is reflected in the mirror. And because it is my Birthright to be experiencing it, I desire to experience it. And I ask for help in seeing what is really here." And then just as when you are listening for guidance and you express a desire, then shut up and watch. Be attentive for the inspiration that will change your perception. When your perception changes because you've let yourself be infilled with the truer perception of what you are, everyone else will see your truer perception as well.

Is it reasonable to expect wrinkles to go away? Is it reasonable to expect sagging muscles to stop sagging? Is it reasonable to expect what you would call regeneration? ABSOLUTELY IT IS! And anything less means that you have simply succumbed to your beliefs about aging and the worlds beliefs about aging.

Slowly but surely everyone kills themselves. Everyone slowly commits suicide by withdrawing their interest in life, by squelching new ideas, by squelching-although I don't like this word, we're going to use it-by squelching new goals, because you say, "I don't really have enough time to achieve those goals," and so you begin backing out of being alive. That means you begin to go against the grain-the very essence of your being-because you are resisting being. And when you resist and create a block to the flow of the energy of life that is the substance of your being, you begin to see the effects of it.

When you attempt to squelch the power of the presence of God in you by saying, "I can't do that, maybe if I were younger I would attempt it, but I'm not young and I can't do it," when you attempt to sit on the power of the presence of God you're in a state of self-denial, you're in a state of lack of self-appreciation. And you know what you do? You use your body to defend yourself against the power of the presence of God that is what you are the presence of-and you hurt, here or there, or here, or in your joints, or somewhere else because you resist with your body. You resist everything with your body. It's the only thing you think you have that has enough presence to be a defense against whatever you feel a need to be defended against.

So you really need to become conscientious about this. You need to become conscientious about being open to the influx of the inspiration that regenerates, and let it in. You need to use the mute button on your TV. And you need to become devoted to the goal, the intent to see the presence of God in all of His/Her glory right there where you are more and more fully each day. And if you don't see it more and more fully each day you persist so that you remain in alignment with God's will. God did not set up Life as a process of life and death, life and death, life and death. But each one of you can squelch and commit suicide only to discover that you're not dead, and then again, squelch and suicide only to find out that you're not dead until it becomes really clear to you that doing anything other than making commitment to Life and not squelching at all is your function..

Now, when you finish your shower and you see the hair in the drain, don't say, "Ohhhhh, another hair gone." At least say, "Ah, room for another hair to grow," or "here's an opportunity I have to see the glory of God manifested right here where I am, and that would be such a wonderful thing. That would truly be such a wonderful thing, that I am going to unswervingly give my attention to that." It's got to become extremely clear to everyone that each one of you is aging yourself, each one of you is or will be incline to slowly put the breaks on. And it's the breaks you are putting on that are causing what you call aging.

If you listen to Deepak Chopra and others who are experiencing more clarity you will hear that your body is quite capable of regenerating itself indefinitely. Of course, then you will occasionally say that there is a built in mechanism that causes it to begin to deteriorate. But you know what? Either God is All or God isn't All. Either Life is the absolute, or it is not.

Now I have said that it is the intent of your body to identify the presence of your Individuality perfectly. That is it's God given reason for existing. And your Individuality is the presence of God. So your body's intent to identify you perfectly is your body's intent to identify the presence of God perfectly. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE GLORIFYING GOD, not just a temporary package that your Soul is inhabiting for a short time.

By my saying this, I'm trying to inspire all of you to be curious in a fearless way about experiencing the truth about your body and the truth about you. You're worth the attention that it will take, the devotion that it will take. And you will have help from those of us who are Awake, who stand ready to support you in your greater embrace of the truth about you and the truth about that which identifies you.

And so when you let the inspiration in, because you're not blocking it with saying "no" to Life, and you're not blocking it because you're curious to see how much more of death has entered your experience, you will find that inspiration being magnified by those who stand ready to support your clearer experience of your physical perfection, of the perfection of that which identifies you.

Now I haven't spoken inspirationally just now. I've been speaking firmly so as to jolt you a little bit out of your fascination with the process of aging. As the saying goes, "what you appreciate, appreciates." That means that what you value grows. And you can always find out what you value by paying attention to what you're giving your attention to.

Do you have a "yes, but"?

QUESTION: No, I think this is wonderful. And it's very exciting. Thank you so much.

RAJ: You are welcome. Take advantage of mirrors.

QUESTION: Okay.

RAJ: Every time you look in a mirror let it be a reminder that what you're looking in the mirror to see is the glory of God. I really mean it! And then I invite all of you to do this for your brothers and sisters as well. When you look at them, don't say, "Oh well, she really doesn't look good today. She really ought to be home in bed. Oh boy, something must have happened at home last night, look at the way she's acting today (or he's acting)." You see? Care enough about those in your experience not to jump to limited conclusions about them, but rather to say, "wait a minute, what's sitting right there, that one driving the car next to me on the Freeway, that body is the glory of God." Let every encounter with your brother and sister be a reminder that it's your function to be seeing the glory of God there. And if you're not, it's not because they're not presenting it, but because you're not choosing to see it. You would rather have your opinion and your definition. And you're the one who suffers, because your definition keeps you from remembering to see God there.

Yes, it's going to keep you busy.

QUESTION: Yes, I think so. Thank you.

RAJ: But you know what? You were already busy repeating and repeating and repeating other habits of attitude. What if. ah ha. what if you can't experience love until you extend it to your brother? What if you can't experience the divine reality of yourself until you're willing to extend the acknowledgment of the divine reality of someone else? What if you can't really feel the love of God until you are willing to love the old so-and-so who just cut you off, or love your fellow worker who claims to be ill, who sees herself or himself as ill and puts that in the air, who has forgotten to be curious about the glory of God right where they are that is beyond their current perception of what's right there? What if your feeling well can't be wholly available to you until you are willing to desire for your brother and sister that they feel wholly well because you know that is their Birthright?

There's not really any "what if" about it. It's why the Course refers to your brother as your savior. Your brother or sister is your savior, why? Because your brother and sister keep you from being able to believe that you can be successfully who and what you are by yourself.

All of the illusory sense of existence arises out of a fundamental premise that all of you have adopted, which is that you are separate from everything else, fundamentally separate from God, being a little god yourselves, being able to be authorities on your own. Well, the only way to get out of the mesmeric frame of mind that involves your seeing yourself as alone is to have a brother or a sister who gives you the opportunity to be love. I've said it before, you can't love by yourself. You have to have an object of your affection. Without an object of your love there can't be a thing called love.

And so your brother and your sister are your means of coming out from under the results of the mad idea that you exist independently from everything, including God. Your means of coming back into your Sanity is your brother or sister who provides you with the opportunity to be the presence of love. And by being the presence of love, fulfilling your purpose for being, because that's what God established in you and as a result of fulfilling your purpose for being, something happens to you-you wake up. You are inspired with God's love. Because in order to love someone else and extend it you have to stand in receipt of it. And the receipt of it is a receipt from the Father. Do you see what I'm saying?

Do you understand what the statement in the Course means that says, "to have give all to all"?

QUESTION: I think so.

RAJ: God is the Movement of Being, the conscious Movement of Being. And the Movement of Being is extension-a gift! Fulfillment therefore, the experience of fulfillment of Being for every single one of you involves making the gift of love. You cannot be the source of love. So how can you give the gift of love? Well, you might say it's magic, because when you begin to care, when you really become less closed off-all of you-and you really begin to care for another, you make a gift. And when you make that gift you become infilled with the Love it takes to give.

I've used the illustration before of a garden hose with a sprayer nozzle on it. When you have an object of your affection it is like pulling the trigger on the nozzle. When you have an object of your affection there is some place for the stream of water to go. And you pull the trigger and what happens? The nozzle gets filled up with the water and the water gets extended. When you care about someone it's like pulling the trigger and the Love that God is moves through you. What happens then? Well, your brother is blessed. But something else has happened. The thing that's happened is that you have had the inspiring, uplifting transformational and regenerative experience of being the place where the presence of God is Moving into expression.

I will put it another way. When you dare to love your fellow man the only thing you can love your fellow man with is God's Love. And in your caring you open the door for God's Love and not only does your brother get loved, you do too. That's why your brother is your salvation.

So that's why I said, when you look at a co-worker or someone at the grocery store and you say, "god I haven't seen them for awhile, they're really beginning to look old." Well, is that the gift you want to make? Is that what you want to extend? Where'd you get that hose from? "Gee, she should take better care of herself." Judgment! You could say, "wow, that isn't the truth about her. Wow, the truth about her is that she is the direct expression of God. The truth is that her body is the glory of God. And I'm going to let my responses, my reactions arise out of that awareness of what the truth of her is rather than how she looks at the moment."

So what's happened? Your apparently aging associate has given you the opportunity to choose for the truth in your awareness, and in choosing that you prime yourself, like pulling the trigger for the further influx of the Father's point of view, which constitutes the love that heals not only your sister or your brother but you. You see.

Now I've gone on at some length. But I hope it's becoming clear to you that the way to over come age, the way to deal with age is to take every opportunity you have to look in the mirror and do something different from what you have been doing by acknowledging the truth about yourself, being curious about the truth about yourself, being curious about God's truth about you. As well as doing the same thing with your brothers and sisters-your fellow man. Because I'll tell ya, you can't just look in the mirror and become absolutely clear about yourself and still go around saying, "god, she looks awful doesn't she? I'm so glad I don't have to look that way anymore." You've got to bring your brother and sister along with you. This is an important point.

And you have something to contemplate now.

QUESTION: I certainly do. Thank you so much.

RAJ: You are welcome. We will take a break.

RAJ: I understand you had some reservations about asking the question you asked.

QUESTION: I don't know I just. I guess I always want to appear like I already know things and the truth is I don't. And I need help understanding. And I knew you could help me have a better way of looking at it.RAJ: So you had a need and you didn't want to look needy?QUESTION: Right!RAJ: Yes. Oh self-sufficiency. And of course, that's right at the top of the list of what you get when you start moving along your spiritual path, of course. And so if you have a need don't let anyone know that you're way back there on the path.QUESTION: That's right.RAJ: But if you don't express your need how can you give someone else the opportunity to love you? Now, I'm not talking about manufacturing needs to get attention, I'm talking about a real need, let's say an absence of an answer you want. That's a need. Of course, that means you've got to dare to be real and honest, honest in the sense of not expressing manufactured needs as a means of manipulating others. You understand?QUESTION: Yes.RAJ: And I'm not suggesting that you do manufacture needs.QUESTION: Okay.RAJ: What I do want to convey to everyone is that there is great value in genuinely expressing real needs that you have. You know what the first thing that happens is when you do that? It makes it easier for other people to be genuine and honest about their needs too. It allows other people to dare to be open because you're not going to uncover how far back they are, you see.

There were times when Paul decided to only talk to me when he didn't have problems, so as not to impose upon me. Not much growth or learning happened during those periods when he decided only to talk to me when he didn't have a problem, because when he didn't have a problem he didn't talk to me.

Now there's something else I want to share. When the fall or the separation from God occurred or seemed to occur and each one practiced a false sense of authority, of an ability to author things, it seemed as though each one who did it was able to see himself or herself as self-contained, self-complete, even though it was a miserable experience. And as each one became accustom to that experience he or she lost the experience of his or her universality and indeed a sense of self associated with the body and only with the body became that one's identity. And that one could say, "I can think for myself. I can decide what this means. I am a decider. I am a giver of definitions. I am this, I am that, I am the other thing." And the experience felt as though all of these conscious experiences were originating from the one identified now as this body and this mind that wasn't universal.

But I pointed out to all of you-and most all of you over the last two years-that no one ever succeeded in becoming autonomous, independent. And that what has happened is that one is channeling you might say, one is giving voice to, giving expression to one of two voices. And that voice is never the identity that you see yourself as separate, or that Paul sees himself as a separated individuality, one never loses his divine presence. And so each one is the Christ, each one, in spite of how you see yourselves still is the Son or Daughter of God, still is the Christ. And this divine one that you are is either giving expression to the voice for Truth, which is the Father's voice, or the voice for fear, which I have referred to as the ego, which is just a rehashing of all of the old tapes, all of the mindsets of this sense of identity that each one has created and acquired and built.

So no one has succeeded in standing in a place where he or she is only expressing himself of herself. You as a separated, aging lady do not have the capacity to originate anything, to be the source of a single thought, or a single act. You are either clearly giving expression to the Christ that you are or you are clearly giving expression to confused expressions. Do you see what I am saying?

Now, I said that the need was to love your fellow man because loving your fellow man is what will save you. And your fellow man being the object of your affection will be your savior. So who's going to love this fellow man? The aging lady sitting there? There ain't no such critter as an aging lady sitting there. There's only the Christ being clear or being confused-let's put it that way. So what's happening when you dare to care about your fellow man?

Well, if you as a separated entity have no capacity to love because this separated entity doesn't exist except in an imaginary way, then if love is going to occur how is it going to occur? Well, it's simple. Because there's only one thing sitting there-with a quizzical look on her face-and that is the presence of God, the Christ. In your sense of being a human who was born and who is a physical body that's going through processes in spite of that. no when you as a human find yourself caring it's not because you as a separated human entity have a capacity to care, but because the Christ that you are is emerging. Because the Christ that you are is the only thing that has the capacity to care.

But does the Christ that you are have a separate place from which to express love, or is the Christ that you are the unobstructed presence of God Himself/Herself? You see what I want to point out here is, which is the cap on this whole answer, is that when you in your sense of being a separated human physical organism that is born, grows, ages and dies experiences caring it's really the Christ of you remembering her function to a limited degree.

Now because you as a separated entity have no capacity to love, if love occurs it occurs because caring has come into play, and the caring is a prayer. If you don't have a personal capacity to love then if love is going to appear where you are it is because you have begun to care, which has been a prayer to God, which God answers. And it comes through you.

And you must have a brother, a sister, an object of your affection in order to call into play the Christ of you. And that's why your brother and your sister is your savior. But remember that the capacity to love isn't something that originates with the separated human entity that you think you are. And that's why when caring finally becomes an active part of your experience of being, even in your separated sense of yourself, that is why it constitutes a prayer and not a personal gift of your own that allows God to answer and fills you up with the experience of the fulfillment of your purpose for being while blessing the one you dared to care about.

Can all of you see that the privacy you seek is the way you deny your brother of the blessing of your prayer? "Well, I can't get involved with everyone!" Well, then keep on dying! Stay separate, you see, stay private, don't care because that is involvement. Keep blocking your function and keep dying. You see what I am saying?

But that's not my point. My point is for you to realize what's happening when you care, what's happening when you love is that prayer isn't just a string of words that you say. Prayer is caring. Caring is prayer. It's involving, it involves you in your heart you might say. You become involved. And when you become involved because you really care a blessing occurs-the prayer is answered and you are the answer. And when you're the answer and you experience the involving aspect of that as well, you won't ask "do I have to do this with everyone." And you won't think that it's too much to do it with everyone, the joy of it will be so significant that you will wonder what you were thinking of when you had justification for withholding it.

"Gee, I thought Jesus was my savior! I thought the Christ was my savior, and the slob over there doesn't look like the Christ to me, doesn't act like the Christ." And what does that mean? What that means is the Christ in you isn't alive at the moment registering in your awareness because caring hasn't occurred yet. That's what it means! And yet that one is the Christ, suffering from his ignorance of his Christhood. And because the suffering is illegitimate for him he invites by his misery, by his unwithheld expression of his need, your compassion. You see, it invites the response of caring rather than judgment. And so this miserable one is your salvation because it's an opportunity for you to care, to feel love, compassion, caring for him. And in your caring you come back into your function, your fulfillment of purpose for being. And that constitutes prayer, which God answers and you feel as it's extended.

I've said before that all of the Awakened Brotherhood experience a lack, because while all of you are enjoying the game of independence, the fantasy of independence, you're not available to us. And we're not available to you. And so the Brotherhood doesn't as a whole experience its wholeness consciously. Is the answer as far as we're concerned to sit around and grouse about all of you, how inconsiderate you are? No, it's opportunity for us to love, it's an opportunity for us to care. And it feels good, because we're on the beam. I don't mean give us a gold star because we're on the beam.

When you're on the beam you feel good. When you're on the beam you're experiencing harmony. When you're on the beam there's never an interruption of the flow of the Father's love, because you're not taking your finger off the trigger on the nozzle on the hose. And so the flow is never intermittent, it's never interrupted. But it's sort of like domino's. I love you. I love you all. I love everyone. But it's not enough for me to love you, you've got to pass it on. Because until you are loving your brother you won't wake up. You won't come into the fullness of the experience of what you divinely are.

This all ties together, because if you want to see your body visibly identifying the glory of God rather than age, then love your brother. Because that constitutes a joining, a union which undoes the effects of being separate, independent, autonomous, which is what aging and death is the result of, as well as birth. The way you get out of that cycle is by fulfilling your function, which is to be the place where love flows into expression, because that's what God is.

There's a lot of. well, mirrors are used a lot in New Age thinking. And so you go to work and someone is grumpy and you say, "Oh, they must be mirroring back me, to me. I didn't think I was grumpy, but I must be somewhere in me, I must be grumpy." Well, you want to know what? The one who's being grumpy and is not covering up his need is being the Christ to the best of his ability, which is giving you the opportunity to be the Christ to the best of your ability.

And so what is it that is being reflected back to you? The Christ. You see, if you're going to be confused in your metaphysical or New Age thinking you will take yourself as the human entity that you think you are and you will take the human entity that you think everyone else is and this is what will be mirrored back and forth. And you start and end with the same ignorance you began with. But your brother there who's suffering or your sister who's suffering is the Christ reflecting back to you your Christhood. It's a call for love. And the Love can only come from the Christ that you are. And so the Christ that you are has to be let out of the box-it's time to come out of the closet-and let yourself feel the love, feel the caring, feel the compassion, not for the poor human entity but for the Christ who has the right to experience his divinity. And then without thinking that you're being the source of the love recognize that the caring, the love that you're feeling is a prayer. And let God answer it in an involving way in your heart. Let it flow. And then you will begin to undo birth, growth, aging and death. It's high time to be through with it!

What if you can't pray for yourself? You just thought you asked a simple question today. What if you cannot be the authorizer, the author of a prayer for yourself-for yourself? What if the only one who can "author" a prayer for you is your brother? You can't be your own savior. You see?

Do you see how much you need each other? If you cannot succeed at being an independent entity then it means that your involvement with the whole Brotherhood, with every aspect of the infinite expression of God is the only choice for an experience of being that you have available to you. And that therefore privacy is nonsense. And that the answer to the problem of existence lies in the withdrawal of defenses and the employment of love so that the unity of the infinite expression of God can be experienced in its exquisite harmony. It's called Heaven.

But as I've said before, it's got to start here. It's got to start with the apparently separated human entity that you think you are, actually being the place where the experience of caring is felt. And it's got to be with each other. YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO A-L-L D-A-Y L-O-N-G!

Do you see that what I'm saying doesn't mean that you personally have to have or come up with the answer for your brother's need. What you have to do is care enough to let the love flow. The Father will answer the prayer.

Just watch the lines disappear.

Susan says that whenever there is a gathering and Paul is not claiming a separate mind of his own, that the lines leave his face. And then afterwards he turns back into a pumpkin. I will tell you the consistent experience of joy that comes from constant prayer, which is what Paul is engaged in this afternoon, the experience of it is peace and joy that is fulfillment itself. And the ongoing experience of this if Paul indeed would acquiesce to my suggestion that he do this constantly would result in the lines disappearing and staying gone, and for color to come back to his hair, and hair to come back to his head and a flat stomach, which he would dearly love. But he still enjoys a little time to think for himself.

QUESTION: Me too.

RAJ: But now you and he are not confused about what the answer is. And all of you are a little younger than when you arrived this afternoon, because the truth of what I've said and the love with which I've said it has touched the Christ in you. And it's a little more conscious. But tomorrow or on the way home in your car when you look in the rearview mirror begin to use a little self-discipline. And when you see your fellow man remember that here is your opportunity to stop getting older as well as waking up.

A Raj gathering at Yucaipa, CA - May 1996

QUESTION: What happens when a person is laying in a hospital bed and then they do tests and find the person is brain dead. And then they decide two or three days later to pull the plug. What I'm trying to ascertain and understand is when is the person actually physically out of their body and where there supposed to be, because I remember what my mother always said, "the dead know not."

And then just recently after they had the memorial for this dear brother of ours, Kirborkian got again acquitted for helping someone to die, and that was considered a suicide helped. And yet in one of your tapes I remember you said that we all commit suicide in one way or another. So, where are the one's who supposedly "actually do a suicide" or the one who is brain dead and they pull the plug on him? Is there any difference in between there? And where are they at then? Are they in the fourth-dimension? And I have had too many experiences since I've been a child that I truly believe that they come when they are needed here to talk to us or whatever, commune, so they're not dead. And they're there. And sometimes I see them as their physical body or I just sense them in their spiritual body. And so now I'm getting really confused and I'm saying, "SOS."RAJ: The manner of death is irrelevant, whether it is suicide, whether it is brain death, whether it is an automobile accident or a heart attack, a disease, the manner of death means nothing. And just to elaborate slightly, every death is a cop out. It's a point at which an individual gives up. It is not the giving up that constitutes the yielding to the Father's will. It's a giving up of the attempt to control one's life, still believing that having control is the primal need. And literally one arrives at a point where they can't maintain the control any longer, but they don't yield the control up to the Father. And so there apparently is a death. It is a death that they bring on themselves. It is a decision, believe it or not.

Now, everyone who passes on goes to the same place, as it were. It is a receiving place. And they are met with love. In fact, the movement to that receiving place is as it has often been described, one in which the experience is one of great love. And they are met with love and they are-for lack of better words-ministered unto, made comfortable. You could say that questions are answered. Those who have passed on prior to the individual who has passed on do gather to welcome. But the individual who has passed on is not required to meet with them. They can remain for awhile in the receiving place if they so wish. And they do not move on until there's a motivation within themselves to do so.

No, indeed, they have not moved into the fourth-dimension. Because the so called event of death was not a part of a process of Awakening. It was an ongoing dynamic of the assertion of the need to be in control of their lives, which they hadn't yet relinquished. And until they relinquish that the process of Awakening cannot occur. And so they find themselves exactly as they were before, except that whatever they thought it was that killed them they know didn't kill them. And so if they had been suffering from cancer, they realize that it did nothing to them and they are no longer subject to that belief or disease. So there is healing in that respect.

There is one other aspect, and that is that if during their life they have lost a limb or an organ or whatever, they find themselves physically whole. They still believe they have to eat. Believe it or not those who were addicted to alcohol may find themselves still addicted to alcohol. And even while they are in the receiving place they are not prohibited from indulging in their alcoholism.

You must begin to understand that no one else can force you no matter how Awake they are, no one else can force you to be well, because to not be well is your decision based upon beliefs that seem rational and reasonable to you that tell you that whatever your problem is is essential to your self-protection. And if one feels they need to be dulled by alcohol in order not to be overcome by the "realities of life," you can see that it is a decision they have made to maintain their sanity from their standpoint, even though it can't accomplish that. But each one's suffering is decided for by them, because they have arrived at a point in their reasoning where they believe that what they are doing is protecting them from something.

Indeed, when physicians arrive at the determination that brain death has occurred, the individuality that you have known has moved on. The body you see is the after image left in your eyes. That which identifies them to themselves is still with them. And you will never be without that which identifies you, without that which renders you visible and tangible as a conscious experience for everyone.

What you also have to understand is that when I speak of something that is tangible and visible I don't mean something that is material. And what you all further need to understand is that your scientist are clearer about the fact that there is nothing material about your body right now "physically speaking," because when they examine it with an electron microscope, they find out that there are not billiard balls of matter but just energy pattern-nothing substantial there at all. And the pattern, it will ultimately be found out is the pattern of the idea in God's Mind that constitutes God's self-expression.

So right now you don't have a material body. And as this fact begins to register, as this news filters down in practical terms from the scientists to the general public, people will begin to think of their body in a new way that will allow for healing to occur, that will allow for perfection to occur spontaneously, instantaneously because there is no requirement, no "physical" requirement for processes of matter to occur because there ain't no such thing there. It's energy pattern than can shift because it has no density to inhibit the shift.

Now you didn't ask about this, but I'm going to continue. As one identifies himself or herself with this body and experiences not the fact that all that is being experienced is the infinity of conscious individuality-that it's all me, it's all you because it's all God-as this all inclusive awareness of self was lost with a preoccupation with identifying with just this body as self, then in that separate sense there was a sense of tinniness and vulnerability and a call for defense. And so life itself has been one of self-preservation.

Now fear is what promotes acts of self-preservation. And so, in the attempt to make one's tiny definition of himself or herself more substantial and therefore having greater defense or invulnerability there has been a contraction that has occurred, and pattern that is what is really here, has become, you might say, packed and relatively immobilized. And so your experience of what is really flexible and fluid energy is not being experienced by you as what it really is and it seems to be subject to injury.

But nevertheless, even though you hold your body in this tight grasp for the sake of self-protection it hasn't become matter. It is still nothing but energy pattern. The pattern of which was and is held in its original divine intent by the Father, because the Father is from moment to moment establishing the pattern as that which identifies His intent in being You. Therefore, that which identifies you specifically, will forever be that which will identify you specifically.

In waking up, in remembering all that's here instead of just what you have chosen to see, you are going to discover that you are always at one and the same time specific and universal just as the Father is. But you will less and less identify with the specific and more and more embrace and embody consciously the infiniteness of you, the universality of you. The specific, meaning what you call the body, will not disappear but it will not fascinate you anymore. You will not choose to view anything from its standpoint anymore. And it will be your body but so will the petal of the rose, and so will the wall, and so will the tree and so will much more of the Kingdom of Heaven that isn't registering with you right now be recognized by you as part of your infinite being.

So, I want to make this clear for those who are students of the Course. The Course talks about the "happy dream" and the "real world," which is perfectly harmonious. And then it says that, "then even the real world will disappear." That is what it says. What it means is that it's like finding and having the experience of your body as the presence of energy pattern that isn't matter but is itself the idea God is expressing that identifies Himself/You. You will find it not manifesting the evidence or evidences of self-protection, not manifesting the density and therefore not manifesting or showing forth illness, or a capacity to die, deformity, but utter beautiful perfection.

Mind you, as I said, as this happens you will also be becoming aware of the infiniteness of you and your attention will shift from body identification, from identifying with the specificness of you and embracing the universality of you. When this shift occurs into the universality of you being the vantage point from which you experience All That Is, the body won't disappear but it won't be important to you anymore. It's in that sense that you could say your body will disappear because it will no longer be present in the function that you had been using as you are in this moment today.

The real world will disappear only in the sense that it will not be getting your attention as an object of your attention, but will be experienced simply as an aspect of the infinitude of you as consciousness or the Mind of God that is having the idea that is the pattern that can be recognized as Creation. The use to which you had put the world will disappear because you won't be using it to define yourself or to gather data for your self-protection and you, I'm going to say, will sail merrily on your way enjoying it all from the infinite view. And that is what the Course means about even the real world disappearing.

I've said this before, it's as though you get up in the morning and you're ready to get dressed and you go to your bureau drawer with all your pretty panties there, and you pick out one, a pair, and if you're a certain kind of individual you'll be sure to pick out a pair that you won't be embarrassed being found wearing if you are in an accident. (Laughter) I use that example because people can be concerned about what underwear they're going to put on in the same way that people are concerned with their body. Nevertheless you go through the process and you put them on, you finish getting ready for the day and you don't give a second thought to your underwear. You don't even know you have them on. They disappeared, you see, but they're there. They are just not a concern.

(A comment must have been made that I couldn't hear.)

Oh, no, they are of value or you wouldn't be wearing them. But they're simply not a focus of your attention. And so the world will not be a focus of your attention, being the state of mind which is able to observe and consciously embrace Creation with the intent of acknowledging what is real in it all, which is God not the form, so that you may glorify God always, which is the function of being, which is love, the form becomes secondary to the function.

Now you said where are they-those who have passed on? Well, they're in the same place you are still. I mean by that that they are still in a state of ignorance of who they Are. It doesn't have a location in the universe. But where you are doesn't have location in the universe either. And I'm not going to try to explain that, except I will say that you're not in anything, everything is in you. All of these conscious experiences of all different sorts are occurring within consciousness, and that is dimensionless and infinite.

How much of what God is being as consciousness. How much of what God is being as divine consciousness. All that God is being as divine consciousness isn't registering with you at the moment. But that's what this shift of attention out of one's reverie, out of one's preoccupation with her underwear, that's all that's needed is that shift of attention that will begin to allow you to see the more that is right here to see. And I will keep saying this over and over, all there is to see of Reality is here for you to see. And if you don't go home from this gathering remembering anything else, please remember that there is so much more of God's Reality to see right here than you can imagine, you will not be able to help but to find a little bit of curiosity surfacing from time to time. And I'll tell you something else, curiosity is what creates an opening in your current, firmly held definitions of everything and allows something new to register with you. That's all the more work there is to wake up, is daring to be a little bit curious right here.

Now, I've gone on and on. Did I answer your question?

QUESTION: Yes, you did, and I'm eternally grateful and blessings to you.

RAJ: You are welcome.

For those attempting manifestation

This comes from the March 17th gathering in Kingston:

QUESTION: Last night Mike Tyson earned $30,000,000 for a fight that lasted 9 minutes. There’s a lot written about manifestation, and I’d like to know more about abundance. I’m aware that there are things that are temporal and things that are spiritual, and that one might become distracted by too much money. I’m not aware how it works.

ANSWER: Ordinarily when one talks about abundance and when one hears about prosperity and “prosperity consciousness,” it refers to “temporal” things. It refers to “the world of form,” and learning the skills necessary to cause the form to reconfigure in what is conceived to be a desirable way. And you know, it doesn’t matter whether one is trying to manifest a million dollars or whether a slight variation of that is used where one tries to manifest a yacht or a tennis court or a mansion rather than the dollars that it takes, the point is that all of it is considered and dealt with at the point of effect. And always when it is dealt with at the point of effect, one is operating in a realm where gain and loss are forever partners.

Now, abundance is an inadequate way to refer to fulfillment. Fulfillment is not something that occurs at the point of effects. Fulfillment is something that is experienced at the “level” of the Source, of That which is Moving and which is seen at the level of effect or manifestation, form. I have spoken of the body as being the visibility and tangibility of each one’s Individuality, and Individuality is the formless. The visibility and tangibility is the identification, or form.

You will find that individuals who, through good psychological or business practices, are able to achieve significant wealth, are as subject as anyone else to sudden loss of what they have achieved because it’s something they can do “in the privacy of their mind.” Fulfillment, on the other hand, is inseparable from one’s abiding at the point of the Source, abiding at the level of the formless Movement, the Movement of essential Being, which is an experience available to everyone in the silence within them.

You see, everyone is very occupied with sensory data. Most everyone’s life is primarily one of sensory data. And yet there is present with each individual an inner place. We’ve called it the Void, the not-knowing place, the silence, peace. And because everyone has devoted 99 and 99/100% of their lives occupied with visual and sensory data, when anyone says, “It is well for you to give attention to the Void, to the silence, to the peace that is within you,” it seems like an alternative to something major.

If one begins to meditate, if one begins to value the silence, it begins to be a short time each day, or a couple of short times each day, not beginning in any way to equal the time or attention that is given to sensory data. And so, it isn’t really grasped that this experience of peace, this experience of the Void is meant to be 100% of one’s conscious experience of his days, and that this is what is divinely natural to him.

So, one seems to shift back and forth from the “inner” to the “outer,” from the world of form to the level of Source, the level of essential Being. And as I said, the level of essential Being seems to be of minor importance compared to the majority of the time which is spent being preoccupied with sensory data.

Nevertheless, as one begins to value this inner place enough to let it become a regular part of his experience, he begins to find that its qualities bleed over into the periods of time when he is dealing with sensory data, the level of effect, and he begins to find his experience at that level becoming more harmonious, less stressful, where there is less lack.

Now, you asked for the truth about abundance, and so that is what I am telling you. At the level of Source, one of the first things you find is that you are not alone, whether it’s the presence of God, or the Holy Spirit, or Guidance…or just the feeling of conscious Presence which is present with you on your behalf. You find that you are not alone.

In other words, one of the first experiences that comes right in the middle of the silence is one of relationship. And this relationship begins to add color to all relationships with those in what I’m going to call “the world of effect”—your daily activities as you experience them from an uncentered place.

Love begins to register with you as the fundamental of relationships, the real fundamental of relationships, and you begin to find yourself sharing Love which is arising from this centered place, this place of Source, rather than reacting to and manipulating at the level of effect, which you had before.

I am bringing this up because abundance or, more truly, fulfillment, comes into view as your conscious experience when the real meaning and function of relationships begins to be actively embodied from the level of Source—in other words, from that place of peace within you where the real meaning of Love begins to register with you and bleed over into your daily activities.

When the Movement of Love which identifies communion with your brothers begins to dominate your behavior “in the world,” all that identifies fulfillment begins to manifest. However, unlike the manifesting of abundance which occurs at the level of form, you cannot take credit for it, because it isn’t the end result of steps you have specifically taken to create that result. It is, rather, a side-effect, you might say, of daring to make the gift of You, which you can only discover and let out from the level of Source, from the essential level of Being, your Being.

This abundance, or fulfillment, cannot be achieved or taken away. In fact, it will never be accumulated, but will always be equal to whatever fulfillment of Purpose is at hand. And so, not only will you not feel personally responsible for having it, you will not be preoccupied with “having it,” because you will come to trust, from experience, the fact that more or less will be present depending upon whether more or less is needed to fulfill Purpose. And so the abundance, the joy of fulfillment, will be experienced, and measuring sticks of ability to create, measuring sticks of wealth, measuring sticks of personal competence, will have nothing to do with it.

You see, fulfillment/abundance will always simply be the flow of the Movement of your Being, being always equal to the full identification of Purpose. And so, you could say that if you have a goal at all, it is a goal to be on Purpose, rather than demonstrating or manifesting abundance. It is like being a boat, whose purpose is to float on water, and instead of trying to always ensure that there is enough water for it to float in, it stays where the current is. If it’s where the current is, it will always be where the water is. That is as specific as I can get.

At the bottom line, fulfillment/abundance will always be what you experience when you dare to make the gift of who you Are—who you divinely Are—because in abandoning the vantage point of the tiny separated ego, no matter how many wonderful skills it has, you cease operating at the level of effect where it’s always polarized—give and take, get and lose, have and not have, rich and poor—and you begin to be in the world from the silence, the formless.

Love is formless, and yet it is eternally identified in form. Learning to trust into the essential level of your Being means that you are disidentifying with the level of form, where you can be not only in the flow of the Movement of Being, but you can discover that you aren’t something separate from It to be in It or out of It. And in letting that Movement be all there is of you, there simply is nothing present to hide the fact that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

Everyone’s function is Love, the being of Love. And in being the Love that you Are, instead of a manipulator of effects, effects begin to fulfill their function, which is not to be the pawns of manipulators, but the visibility and tangibility of the Kingdom of Heaven evidencing the Father’s Will, evidencing the Movement of Love that each one of you is the presence of.

Again, this is not a spiritual answer that doesn’t have much relevance to the world you’re going to go back to when you leave this house. When one asks about abundance, one is usually asking about a way to be in the world that can be abundant. And what I am saying is: The answer is to be in the world Awake—which means to be in your peace instead of being in the world, to be increasingly from the level of your essential Being. And when you’re being from there, the world of form, no longer being tinkered with by manipulators, will begin to identify Source.

So, don’t leave here and go back into the world and try to cope with it. Leave here and stay in whatever peace you have allowed yourself to experience here, and be in your peace rather than in the world, so that you can make the gift of who you find yourself to be when you’re in your peace in the world. And then you can say you are in it but not of it.

That is the answer, and it is enough for now.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you for being here with us.

ANSWER: You are welcome.

Channeling from Raj

Random quote: RIGHT NOW YOU'RE CONFRONTED WITH REALITY. NO MATTER HOW YOU ARE PERCEIVING IT, YOU ARE CONFRONTED WITH REALITY, YOU'RE CONFRONTED WITH THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. THERE IS NOTHING ELSE FOR YOU TO BE EXPERIENCING.~~Raj - (Added by: amena) Brain is not Mind. (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health) June 15, 2008 ©NWFFACIM PAUL. Okay. I want to thank everyone for being patient while Chris worked out some technical problems so that We could successfully broadcast tonight. And so, before we have our quiet time, let’s go ahead and get on the same page. If you're in the Sparkly Book, it’s page 332, a new section entitled: Perception Without Deceit. If you're in Second Edition, it’s page 287, the new section is entitled: Sharing Perception With The Holy Spirit. If you're in the First Edition, it’s page 266. Again, the new section: Sharing Perception With The Holy Spirit. If You’re reading from the JCIM, it’s page 139, the new section: Perception Without Deceit. And, if You are in the CIMS edition, it’s page 279, Perception Without Deceit. Okay. Let’s take a few moments to be quiet together. Quiet Time RAJ. Okay. Good evening. … … And welcome to every One who’s joining Us on the Internet. … A new section: … Perception Without Deceit. … … Let’s … let’s remember what a miracle is. … A miracle is … a sudden shift … of perception. … We could say … it’s a shift of perception from … perception with deceit to … perception without deceit. … And to flesh it out a little bit more, it’s a shift from the orphan mentality – second gear – to That Which is nothing more than Your Right Mind – which is the Holy Spirit – which is first gear – which is You experiencing Realty through God’s eyes, as God is Experiencing It. … Now, … has it ever occurred to You that every single moment is … the perfect opportunity for … a miracle. … Every single moment is a perfect opportunity to wake up. … Oh, but You say: ‘Oh, I’m in a state of emergency. There was just a car accident. This is not (small laugh) an opportune time to Wake Up. There are things to be taken care of. Uh, … uh … This is a- I can’t give My attention to a sudden shift of perception! Come on! … You see? This is not … the perfect moment for a sudden shift of perception.’ … And what You’re saying is: ‘My mindset will not allow for Me to see this … as a perfect moment for a miracle – a perfect moment for a sudden shift of perception.’ And yet, what mor- what better time for a miracle, than when a miracle is needed. … What better time … than when there is … a call for healing? Oh, You see, You’re not – for lack of better words – conditioned in Your mind to respond to needs with a- a clear call for clarity in Your mind. … You’re conditioned to react. … You’re conditioned to be alarmed, … and feel the alarm, and use the alarm to motivate You to … get busy and fix things up! … … Not … not one of the times when You would naturally think to ask the Holy Spirit: ‘What’s going on here? What is really going on here? What is God’s Truth right here? … … You’re not inclined … to have something come to Your attention – let’s say as You’re driving along and You see a dead animal in the road – You’re not- You’re not conditioned or primed to (finger snap) instantaneously say: ‘That’s a lie! … That is not God’s Truth. I don’t accept it.’ No, You say: ‘Oh boy, these damn drivers! They can’t- They can’t stop for a minute to … to let a simple little critter get across the street. They just … gotta go, go, go, and kill, kill, kill. I have the right to sit here in this car and react and be mad because it’s unfair!’ Well, hell! If it’s so unfair, heal it … by using Your mind, … in its healing capacity. Use Your mind to immediately reach to the Holy Spirit: ‘What is the healing Truth … that needs to be known here? … Help Me see this critter … not exhibiting … something that God could not have created, … and a condition that God could not possibly be manifesting, right there where I see it.’ … … Again, … what better time … for a miracle … than when a miracle is needed. … Any moment … is a perfect time for a sudden shift of perception. Yeah, I know, You’re eating dinner. The whole family’s there. It’s been a … hard day for both You and Your wife at work. The kids are tired and cranky. It was a … busy day at school, and They had baseball and piano lessons and everybody’s at each other’s throats. And it’s not a pleasant time. You know, this is not the best time. This is not the perfect time for Me to have a sudden shift of perception, … because I’m upset, along with everybody else. And We all have a right to be upset. … Let Us get it out of Our system. We have a right to do that.’ Yeah. … Well, … yeah. You can do that. But You have missed what … nevertheless is a perfect opportunity for a sudden shift of perception. … … You know, … … You’re never faced with … complicated circumstances. You’re always faced with one of two things: the Experience of Truth … or the experience of illusion. … … No matter how it’s fleshed out, … You’re either faced with the Experience of Truth, or the experience of illusion. And the experience of illusion is simple the distorted perception of Truth, because You have nothing else available to You, to be experience but Truth – see clearly, or seen through a glass darkly. … … … What I want to convey tonight is … how simple it is – how uncomplicated it is … that … that a sudden shift of perception is not one of an infilling of grand and complicated and … … … drawn out … improvement of Your mind. … It’s simply a shift … from a distorted perception … to a real perception; like … holding Your camera up, and adjusting the focus. You’re either seeing Reality out of focus, or You’re seeing It in focus. … It doesn’t matter … … what the scenario is. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a war. It doesn’t matter if there’s gunfighting going on. It doesn’t matter if people are beating each other up. It … it doesn’t matter! … Because You’re either seeing Reality … out of focus or in focus. And the call is not for improving … the circumstances, but … by improving the focus. …That’s why any moment … is a perfect moment for a sudden shift of perception. Any moment is a perfect moment for bringing things into focus. … 11:20:5 Another way of putting it is that any moment is a perfect moment to abandon second gear. … To abandon autonomous, private authority … and yield to … Your desire … to feel … Your Sonship or Your Daughtership with Your Father … and Your Brotherhood with Your Brothers and Sisters; … and choose to see Every Thing consciously – consciously choose to see Every Thing … as Your Father sees It – as Your Father is Be-ing It. … … Mind You, when You’re looking through the camera, and Every Thing is out of focus, it doesn’t mean that what You’re seeing is false. It doesn’t mean that what You’re seeing is an illusion, even though You can’t make sense out of it. It’s just Reality – Truth You might say – out of focus. Turn the lens. Bring it into focus. Now Every Thing makes sense. … A shift of perception … has occurred. Not a shift of Reality, and … and not actually an undoing of unreality, because unreality was never going on. It was already- It was always Reality, misperceived. It was always … perception … with deceit. Now, … why suddenly bring in such a word as deceit? Because it- it implies dishonesty, but it- it- We- We’re using the word because … it is important to be honest, (small laugh) and uncover when You are being dishonest, so that You’re not fooled. … There is deceit when You’re looking at Every Thing and saying: ‘But Father, I’d rather see it My way.’ In other words, ‘I’d … I’d rather change the setting on the lens, so that what’s perfectly c- clear becomes … unclear, … and susceptible to misinterpretation, so that I can apply an interpretation, which is actually a misinterpretation, to it, and join with My Brothers and Sisters in a mutual misunderstanding of it, that We’re gonna call- that We’re going to call … … an explanation of the reality of everything. And it will be called science. … … And We will live according to the precepts of science. … … … We will live according to the definition that has been given to … a distorted image of What’s Real. And what It Really Is will forever escape Us because of Our commitment to the definition We’re giving It. And so We’re going to say It’s this, when It isn’t, and that … is where the deceit comes in. You see? We are going to pretend … that It’s not the Presence of God, that It’s something else. It’s the presence of matter. The presence of matter than came from a big bang that had nothing to do with God, and on and on and on. … So, … … when You shift from the authority You love to think You have – as an orphan – as an independent agent – when You shift from that … to an attitude of saying: ‘Father, what- what are You really Be-ing here? Father, what … what is … what does- what is … Show Me what this Thing Really is.’ … … … When You make that shift, You abandon Your desire … to practice deceit. … … And, … You have what’s called a sudden shift of perception – a miracle. Healing, injuries from an accident gone. Someone dying in a hospital bed, revived fully, instantaneously; immediately free of the need of life-support systems. … … Every One of You needs to … begin to think – I’m going to say that – cautiously. Every One of You needs to begin to think in a new way. … Every One of You needs to … begin to condition Yourself … to respond to emergencies – not with reaction first, … but with an immediate call to the Father; … an immediate call to Your innate Divine Wisdom; an immediate call to the Holy Spirit – Which is nothing more than Your Right Mind – to reveal to You what’s really going on, with an expectation of seeing the illusion … out-of-focus fuzziness – shifting into perfect clarity, where there’s no question whatsoever about What … It Is. And no room for Any One to come to a misperception or a misunderstanding of What It Is. An Experience of It which – because It’s the True Experience of It – is so compelling to You … that You would not choose to see It any other way, any longer. … And when that happens, there will be instantaneous healing. … There may even be gradual healing. We’re not going to quibble. The evidence will be healing. But it can be instantaneous. And You can learn to instantaneously respond to a call for Love with a desire to know what Love is, and what Love … needs to be expressed as by You – in that moment, instead of … reacting … and being governed by fear, which is the opposite of Love. … … So, going into the book: “What do you want? Light or darkness, … Knowledge … or ignorance are yours, … but not both.” Again: “What do You want? Light or darkness, Knowledge or ignorance are yours, but not both. Opposites must be brought together, and not kept apart.” … We could say: What do You want? First gear or second gear? Sonship or orphanhood. … They’re Yours, but not both. You either have one or the other. You have One or the other, right now, already! … They’re aren’t any other choices. So You have One or the other right now. But the question is: “”What do You want? … Light or darkness, Knowledge or ignor- ignorance are Yours,” – and I’m adding: first gear or second gear is Yours; Sonship or … orphanhood is Yours, but not both. “Opposites must be brought together, and not kept apart. For their separation is only in your mind, and they are reconciled by Union as You are.” – Now what in the heck does that mean? They’re “reconciled by Union, as You are.” Well, Waking Up is shifting from … a sense of Your having Your own mind; something that You say is in Your skull, and a hunk of meat, called a brain. … … … … Unknown to You because things that are kept apart cannot be had at the same time – cannot be experienced at the same time – unbeknownst to You – as You’re making this claim of a … mind that’s in a skull, in a brain … – You – the Divine One That You Are – that You’ve been unconscious of … and Your Mind – Your Right Mind – which is the only Real Mind there is – Which is Yours – isn’t being experienced by You. … But It’s there. And as You know now, It’s called the Holy Spirit. It’s Your Identity. It’s Your Be-ing, held in trust while You imaginatively play with the ego – dally with the ego – pretend to be an ego – have fun being scared to death by the experience of being an ego. And so on and so on. Okay. Now, … Someone has come along. The Course has come along. I’ve come along, … and You’ve been told that – contrary to Your beliefs that Your mind is in Your brain, and that it’s a physical thing – there was a Real You – One that isn’t imagined. One that can’t be described the way You’re describing Yourself. … And, … the Experience of It can be achieved – or taken hold of – the Experience can be had, by desiring to … connect with God; by embracing with What to You in the beginning is an idea … of God. But in Your willingness to … reach for the Experience of God … what are You doing? You’re abandoning the autonomy of second gear. You’re abandoning the commitment … to being an independent agent. You are bringing the illusion to Truth. … You are uniting what seemed to be separate by bringing them together. The puny little orphan that You thought You were … has begun to change its goal … … and brings itself – by virtue of desire to an Experience of Joining, … with Something You didn’t even know was there. You didn’t know what Truth was. … And You didn’t know how to bring Yourself to It. But now You are beginning to understand, and beginning to have a feel for engaging in this … well, what had been an unknown practice, … even an unknowable practice, … because Your orphanhood was so exclusive that it didn’t … allow such a thing. So, … “Opposites must be brought together, and not kept apart.” What You think You are … must be brought to … What You actually Are! … … “Opposites must be brought together, and not kept apart, for their separation is only in your mind, and they are reconciled by union as You are.” … You are reconciled by the uniting of who You thought You were with Who You Really Are. “In union, everything that is not real must disappear, for Truth is Union.” In other words, Truth is Union. Union is the Truth of Be-ing, and therefore, … disintegration – the opposite of Union – has to disappear, … because it’s not Truth. And in the Experience of Truth it becomes obvious. Untruth becomes obvious. ‘Gee whiz. I always thought two times two was five. … And now You come along and … You show Me two apples and two apples. Two times two is what? One, two, three, four. My God. … It isn’t five!’ … Ignorance has been replaced by the comprehension of Truth. … And never again, … will You think that two times two is five. … 28:38:5 “As darkness disappears in Light, so ignorance fades away when knowledge dawns. Perception is the medium by which ignorance is brought to knowledge. Yet the perception must be without deceit, for otherwise … it becomes the messenger of ignorance rather than a helper … in the search for Truth.” … Okay. Eventually, You’re not going to perceive anything at all, any longer. … Perception and misperception will vanish. … They’ll vanish in the Experience of Knowing. They will vanish in the Experience of Understanding Truth – experientially. … The Experience of What a Thing really is will be a direct Experience – not a perception of It. A perception of It is like a snapshot of It – or a- an idea of It. … But the Truth of What a Thing is will be Experienced by You, directly. But in the meantime, since You’re operating in the realm of perception … because that’s how You come up with … illusions, We’re going to use perceptions. … How do You have a new perception? how do You have a perception without deceit? You have a perception without deceit by abandoning the self that used thought-processes to define Reality different from What the Father created it as. … … That’s perception without deceit. It requires You to go within and ask of the Father: ‘What is the Reality here? What are You Be-ing in that organ? What are You Be-ing in that table? What are You Be-ing … in My fingernail? … What is True here?’ Because – as I said earlier – every moment is a perfect poment for a sudden shift of perception to occur, and … since … there aren’t two Realities. There’s either Reality Experienced in focus, or there’s a Reality experienced out of focus. Then whatever You’re calling a fingernail … … in the out-of-focus view – is Something that’s really there to be seen in focus. All You have to do is … turns the lens … to bring it into focus. … … When You ask: ‘What is really going on here? What are You Be-ing here God? What is- What is It that’s really here in front of Me, no matter how I’m perceiving It at the moment?’ 32:28:8 That desire, genuinely felt, genuinely extended to the Father – or to the Holy Spirit – or to Me – will elicit a response in answer. … Not a misdirection. Not a distraction, but the answer will be forthcoming. The … turning of the lens will happen. You’ll say: ‘My God! Two plus two is four!’ (in an overjoyed Voice) You see? … ... So, Waking Up is a matter of abandoning perception with deceit, which means it’s a matter of abandoning … the orphan mentality, in which You made up the definitions of Every Thing; … made up definitions about Every Thing Real that defined Them incorrectly. Divined- defined What was Real falsely. And that’s how deceit came into play. And You let go of the deceit by desiring once again to know what the Truth is. What’s the Truth of the fingernail? What’s the Truth of the glass? What’s the Truth of the book? What’s the Truth of the paper? … What … what is going on here that I’m currently seeing in a blurred fashion, … which I … know I will be able to see … if the- if the focus … is returned to the picture. What is it? … … … “Perception is the medium by which ignorance is brought … to Knowledge.” – to the Experience of Knowing. “Yet the perception must be without deceit, … for otherwise it becomes the messenger of ignorance rather than a helper in the search for Truth.” … If You’re not asking … to know what a Thing truly is, … so that You might perceive It without … … misperception being introduced, then … misperception will be maintained. Misperception will continue to be … established. … And You will continue to be ignorant. So, perception either leads You into temptation … and illusion, or perception leads You into the Experience of Truth, depending on … what voice You’re using, in order to be told what Truth is. … … If You’re going to continue to use Your puny little voice – and Your puny little mind – and Your puny little head – … You’re gonna stay with illusion. … … But You’re not bound to that any more, because You know better. … And tonight it’s clearer than ever, because I’ve said it so clearly to You, … that there’s only one thing going on, and it’s Reality, which You’re either seeing clearly … or out of focus. … So there’s nothing complicated. You don’t have to get rid of a material world. And You don’t have to rise above a material world. You just have to stop … keeping that lens in a position where Reality is out of focus. That’s all! Put It into focus, and the Reality that was present all along – that You were misinterpreting and misunderstanding – will be clearly seen for What It Is, in such a compelling way that You will recognize that It’s Heaven! … … Now: … “The search for Truth is but the honest searching out of everything that interferes with Truth.” … You have to be careful with this. … The best way to search out … that which interferes with the experience of Truth is to desire to know what the Truth is about Any Thing and Every Thing, because the moment You do that, You will find out what conditionings are present in You that You … use … to keep Yourself ignorant of the Truth. If You … begin to desire to know the Truth about so-and-so, … You will find Yourself automatically being caught up short … if You don’t like so-and-so, … and never have. … Or if so-and-so hurt You – or abused You – … Your desire … to know the Truth – God’s Truth about Them – will be blocked by Your reluctance … to know the Truth about Them, … because You don’t want to abandon … Your self-righteous, negative appraisal of Them. And You will say: ‘This … this is not a perfect moment … for a sudden shift of perception.’ … … And You will have a direct experience of what interferes with Truth – with the experience of Truth, … without having gone on an internal witch hunt. … I promise You something: if You do an honest search – what You might call an honest searching out of an- of everything that interferes with Truth, … Your ego can lead You on a merry little … self-righteous chase. ‘Oh. … You wouldn’t believe what I learned about Myself as I’ve begun to (small laugh) honestly search out everything that interferes with Truth. My God. … I found that I’ve been doing this, and I found that I’ve been doing that, and … Wow! What an eye-opener! You can’t believe … the shift it’s caused in My mind.’ … (laughing) And (laughing) and no shift has occurred at all. You just … You’ve just developed new, wonderful things –uh – to praise Yourself about. And you know what? You will never have found out … that You … were … resistant to … acknowledging the Truth about … so-and-so. … Which You would have found out if You had decided You wanted to know what the Truth was about so-and-so. So keep Yourself grounded in this … searching out of everything that interferes with Truth. Don’t look for errors in You. Look for the Truth … in Every Thing! … Look for the Truth in Every Thing. … Desire for there to be this … sudden shift of perception … called a miracle. The movement from blurred … to in focus. … Desire that, … and that will automatically … bring up to You the … the … the means You are employing for staying ignorant, and being unconscious of the Truth. And then, … that which uncovered It – because of Your desire to know the Truth – will help You set it aside, … by showing You the Truth … that undoes Your conviction – and Your commitment … to the misperception … You had created, … by virtue of wanting to live in a world of blur. … … “Truth is.” It just is. … “It can be neither lost, nor sought, nor found. … It is there, wherever you are, … being within you. … Yet … It can be recognized or unrecognized. Real or false to You.” Even though It’s … wherever You are – and within You – “It can be recognized or unrecognized, Real of false” depending upon … whether You’re functioning in first gear or second gear; whether You are … creating … a split mind – you know – Your Right Mind and Your orphan mentality. … … “If you hide it,” … – Truth – “It becomes unreal to you because you hid It and surrounded It with fear.” … So, That Which is nothing but Your Right Mind – which is the Holy Spirit – which You have a hard time believing – … You have a hard time believing because … You hid Your Right Mind from Yourself when You said: ‘But Father, … I’d rather see It My way. I would rather use My mind in a way You did not design it, for a purpose You did not make it. … That purpose being to call Every Thing that You had made – You’ve made – some Thing different from what You made. … ‘I will put My stamp of approval upon Creation, … in a slightly distorted way.’ You see? There’s where the deceit came in. … And so, when You decided to function as a mentality … that wasn’t the Father’s Mind – that wasn’t the Holy Spirit – the Holy Spirit became … unknowable to You; something … You can think about, something that a= … that a word could be applied to and everybody could talk about. ‘Oh, the Holy Trinity. The Father – the Son – and the Holy Spirit. Wow!’ – Never for a moment realizing that the third part of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit – was nothing more than Your Right Mind! You – ... as You experience Yourself when You stop trying to be the personal, private author … of the definitions and meanings of Creation. … … So, You hid It, and It became unreal to You. … In fact, unknown to You as Be-ing You. … … … “Under … each cornerstone of fear” – because, of course, fear accompanies everything You do from second gear; second gear is always accompanied by fear – “Under each cornerstone of fear, on which you have erected your insane system of belief, … the Truth lies hidden.” … … Behind every … fuzzy perception … lies Reality … Perfect. … Reality lies hidden behind out-of-focusness. ... … “Yet you cannot know this, … for by hiding Truth in fear you see no reason to believe the more you look at fear the less you see it, and the clearer what it conceals becomes.” … … Now, again, We must be clear here, because it’s very impractical just to look at fear, … and to look at it consistently. … … You must look at fear with One Who is Awake … … – the Holy Spirit – … That Which is nothing more than Your Right Mind, Whose task – if You will – is to reconcile You with It! … so that You might experience Your … Sanity once again. … And, … the more You look at fear with Your Guide – and the Holy Spirit – or with Me, the less You see it, … and the clearer What it conceals becomes; the clearer Reality behind the blur becomes … as the blur … shifts into focus. … … “It is not possible to convince the unknowing that They know.” … … It’s impossible for Me to convince You that Your Right Mind is the Holy Spirit; … but I can tell You over and over and over again, in so many different ways that You might begin to experience curiosity, and begin to do the essential thing – which is to reach for It – to dare to embrace It as thought It’s actually there. … … But I can’t convince You – the unknowing – That Which doesn’t know of Its Divinity – that You know. I can’t convince the orphan that You think You are – that You are the Holy Spirit! … “From Their point of view,” – from Your point of view – “it is not true. … Yet it is true because God Knows it.” … This is important: God Knows it. And You Know it, … if You were in Your Right Mind. “These are clearly opposite viewpoints of what the "unknowing" are.” … … “These are clearly opposite viewpoints” – viewpoints are like vantage points. Viewpoints are perceptions! Aren’t They? ‘Well, My perception of the accident was this. Someone else’s perception of the accident was that. My perception of the meaning of the movie was this, and Your perception of the meaning of the movie was something else.’ 51:00:5 … Viewpoints are different from Knowing! … … Viewpoints … are different from Knowing. “To God, unknowing is impossible. It is, therefore, not a point of view at all, but merely a belief … in something that does not exist. … … It is only this belief that the unknowing” – the ignorant – “have, and by it they are wrong about themselves. “They have defined themselves” – You have defined Yourselves – “as They were not created.” – as You were not created. “Their creation” – Your Creation – “was not a point of view, ... but rather a certainty. ... Uncertainty … brought to certainty ... does not retain any conviction of Reality.” Uncertainty which is characteristic of the orphan mentality and of … gear number 2, … brought to first gear – with the desire to know the Truth here – “does not retain any conviction of Reality” – because the Truth is so compelling … that there is no way to hold on to … the illusion any longer, with any belief. Now, … there’s a saying: You believe what You see and You see what You believe. … … The implication of that statement is: If You want to see something different, believe something different. … And it’s as though that is the answer. That’s the solution. That’s the way You correct things. But I’m here to tell You that … something had to happen … before You had a belief … to believe. You had to abandon the experience of Knowing. … … You had to say: ‘But Father, I’d rather not Know It. I would rather create an experience of it … that I have made up, that I have created, through the use of My mind. … … ‘And so, … I’m going to call this such-and-such a thing. And I’m going to say it has such-and-such a purpose. … And that will be … My belief. … And I will believe what I see, and I will see what I believe.’ If You understand this, then You will also understand that the solution to a better experience is not to have a better belief, but to abandon belief, and yield to Your capacity to Know, which You abandoned in favor of having beliefs … and governing Yourself according to beliefs; and being governed by Your beliefs. So the answer is – and the freedom from belief comes from – … asking: ‘Father. Father, what is the Truth here? 55:36:0 What is really going on there? What is really going on where it looks like there was an accident at the intersection? What is really going on?’ Because, again, no matter how gory it looks – in other words, no matter how fuzzy it gets – it’s still a fuzzy, unfocused experience of Something that’s utterly clear, utterly flawless, utterly perfect! … And so, in spite of what You’re seeing, all that is needed is a sudden shift of perception. … Because the fuzzy picture – the distorted picture – the gory picture that You’re seeing is nothing more than an altered perception of Something That Is Utterly Perfect. Ah, but I’m telling You something You don’t know. I’m telling You some I cannot convince You of. I understand that! I must tell You what You cannot believe, so that You might open Your mind up and let Your belief be replaced by a new experience that eradicates the value of beliefs, and allows actual sudden shift of perception to occur, that will be called miraculous. 57:28:1 … … :You must have noticed that the emphasis has been on bringing what is undesirable to the desirable: what You do not want to what You do.” Here again, let’s be careful. What You do want- what You do truly want is what the Father or the Holy Spirit reveals to You. If You just go after what You want – as You perceive Yourself to be at the moment – a handy-dandy little orphan – then … … wanting what You do want is just going to keep You in the orphanage. So: “You must have noticed that the emphasis has been on bringing what is undesirable to the desirable: what you do not want to what you do. … You will realize that salvation must come to You this way if you consider what dissociation is. Dissociation is a distorted process of thinking, whereby two systems of belief, which cannot co-exist, are both maintained.” Hmm. Two systems of belief. Oh! First gear. Second gear Son or Daughter of God. Orphan! … … Those are two systems of belief. Why am I calling Be-ing a Son or Daughter of God a belief? Because, right now You don’t believe it. (laughing) And so to You, that is a belief. Fine. Once You have the Experience of It though, You won’t call It a belief any longer. Nevertheless: “Dissociation is a distorted” – fuzzy, out-of-focus … process of thinking, whereby two systems of belief, which cannot co-exist, are both maintained.” They sure are, aren’t they? You don’t experience Your Divinity while You’re being an orphan. And when You experience Your Divinity, You won’t experience being and orphan. But, You are demonstrating right now the fact the You believe You’re an orphan … is keeping You absolutely blinded to Your Be-ing the Holy Spirit – to Your Right Mind Be-ing nothing more than the Holy Spirit. So, the two are being maintained – even though they can’t actually exist in Your mind – at the same time! “It has been recognized that, if they were brought together, their joint acceptance would become impossible.” In other words, You couldn’t believe both of them! … … You get that? You couldn’t believe both of them. … Belief would not make sense. The practice of believing would not make sense, … because the Truth would be so obvious. … “But, if one is kept in darkness from other,” – if second gear is kept in the darkness from first gear, and first gear is kept in the darkness from second, … … “their separation … seems to keep them both alive. .. and equal in their reality.” … Mind You, this is all nonsense, but this is the way dissociation works. “Their joining … thus becomes the source of fear, for if they meet, acceptance must be withdrawn from one of them.” … … And, … You all know (small laugh) that acceptance will have to be withdrawn from … the belief of orphanhood. … And You don’t want to do that yet. … … ‘Oh! But I do, but I do!’ … No. If You wanted to, … You would have done it. … You’d be saying: ‘I’ve done it!’ You would not be saying: ‘Oh, I want to! I want to!’ … … Okay. “You cannot have them both, for each denies the other. Apart, this fact is lost from sight,” … – that “each denies the other” – “for each, in a separate place, can be endowed with firm belief.” You see, You can even read the Course, and You can listen to what I’m saying, and You can think about … the Holy Spirit being nothing more than Your Right Mind, and accepting that as a fact – and being and orphan, and accepting that as a fact. And they can both sit there side by side. Why? … Because You’re … not making commitment … to both of them. You’re making commitment to one. You’re making commitment to being the orphan. … … The necessity, here, is for You to dare to make … commitment to That Which is nothing more than Your Right Mind, and stop thinking – and stop reasoning – and stop coming to Your own conclusions. And in every instance where You would have come to Your own conclusions, You lean into the Holy Spirit … demanding … a response, from That Which is nothing more than Your Right Mind, because You want to know the Truth! 1:04:06:7 … … “Bring them together,” – as that would amount to – “and the fact of their complete incompatibility is instantly apparent. One will go … because the other is seen in the same place. Light cannot enter darkness when a mind believes in darkness, and will not let it go.” … … – Simple. – “Truth does not struggle against ignorance, … and Love does not attack fear. What needs no protection does not defend itself. … … Defense is of Your making. God knows it not. “The Holy Spirit uses defenses on behalf of Truth only because You … made them against It.” … … “The Holy Spirit uses defenses on behalf of Truth only because You … made Them” – defenses – “against It.” – the Truth. … … So, how have I described tonight … the practice of defending Truth? I’ve described it by saying that if You see a- a dead animal on the road, You immediately (finger snap) say: ‘That’s a lie!’ … Or instead of reacting to an accident or an injury or illness, You say: ‘Father, what is the Truth here?’ … … That’s how You defend the Truth. … You defend the lie … by becoming upset, by justifying anger, … by justifying thinking … that comes to conclusions that are false, and … believing the conclusions, and acting on the basis of Them! … … So, again, since You’re used to- to … practicing defense, the Holy Spirit – when You listen to the Holy Spirit – will Guide You to use defense on behalf of Truth. … … Now, You notice … that I didn’t describe … setting up shields against everything that would attack Truth. … The way You defend Truth is by … wanting to Know … the Truth, … and not expressing – or practicing – any other desire! You defend Truth by … letting Your intent be fully on … having the Experience of What Truth Is. You defend … the Experience of Truth by not allowing Yourself to be distracted by anything but Truth. … ... That’s the way – through the Holy Spirit’s Help – that You defend Truth and make the shift more easily … from second gear to first gear; and have a sudden shift of perception, in which deceit … is absent. … … … … Now We’re going to stop here for this evening, … because I want You to remember – during this … coming week – to defend the Truth. … And to remember that the way You defend the Truth is to wish to Know what the Truth Is, … and by not allowing Yourself to be distracted from … hearing the answer. … Especially … not being distracted from hearing the answer by spontaneously indulging in the habit … of thinking. You will Know by desiring to Know, not by figuring out an answer. … … … Remember, … every moment … is a perfect moment … to have … a sudden shift of perception. … … Every experience of a call for Love … is a perfect moment … to find the way … to let Love through You. … Every call for a miracle does not constitute a moment which is not perfect for a miracle, … because it’s too upsetting! … It is a perfect moment for a miracle, because that’s when the miracle is needed! And, if miracles are not for the moments in which they're really needed, they are useless! … … … .. … I Love You. … I Love You All. … And I look forward to Be-ing with You next week. ----- How could anyone ever tell Us we were anything less than beautiful? How could anyone ever tell Us we were less than Soul? How could anyone fail to notice that Our Loving is a miracle -- how deeply We're connected to the Whole.